Aggression and Impulsivity in Different Groups of Alcohol and Heroin Dependent Inpatient Men

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the aggression and impulsivity in two different groups of men with alcohol or heroin dependency. Methods: Participants were consecutively admitted male alcohol (n=94) or heroin (n=78) dependent inpatients and healthy controls (n=63). Patients and healthy controls were investigated with the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, version 11. Results: Aggression and impulsivity scores were higher among both the alcohol and the heroin dependent groups than the healthy controls. Verbal aggression was the only subscale, which did not show significant differences between groups. Severity of impulsivity and aggression discriminated both alcohol dependents and heroin dependents from healthy controls. When subscales of aggression and impulsivity were taken as independent variables, current age, hostility and motor impulsiveness discriminated alcohol dependents, whereas physical aggression and non-planning impulsiveness discriminated heroin dependents from healthy controls. Thus, although aggression and impulsivity did not discriminate alcohol and heroin dependents from each other, and both aggression and impulsivity discriminated these groups from healthy controls, different dimensions of aggression and impulsivity discriminated these groups from healthy controls. Our study sample being restricted to male treatment-seeking patients and the cross-sectional nature of the study which may interfere with the identification of causal relationships between impulsivity, aggression and substance dependency, must be taken into consideration, when assessing these results. Conclusion: The results suggest that both aggression and impulsivity are important constructs on which to focus in the treatment of substance dependents, but different dimensions might be the center of attention for patients with different substances of dependence.